Mended
by cojack
Summary: C/7. Short behind the scenes vignette from the Season 7 episode "Shattered". Chakotay enlists Seven of Nine to help in the Captain's backup plan.


DISCLAIMER: It's Paramount's galaxy.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: C/7. Short behind the scenes vignette from the Season 7 episode "Shattered". Chakotay enlists Seven of Nine to help in the Captain's backup plan.

This is one of my favorite _Voyager_ episode. At first glance, you might think it is exclusively about Chakotay and Janeway and their relationship with apparently no room for a C/7 moment. Ah, but you'd be wrong! This episode, by the way, marks the point where J/C is finally solidified as a strictly strong friendship and nothing more. After all, as Chakotay says at the end of the episode, there are some barriers they never cross. For Chakotay and Seven, however, eventually…

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MENDED

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Chakotay stood outside Cargo Bay Two. The Captain's backup plan sounded simple enough. Inoculate other crew members from the various time frames about the ship to enable them to traverse between the zones and have them ready to intervene if his attempt at diplomacy with Seska went awry in Engineering. They had already prepared several people to participate – Paris from his time frame, B'Elanna and Ayala from the time of the Caretaker, and Icheb and Naomi from the future. Kathryn was back on the bridge to recruit Ensign Kim and prepare her officers. There were about as many Kazon in Engineering, so they didn't necessarily need anyone else, but Chakotay had a feeling they might. Kathryn had been warry of his idea of who that someone else should be, but had acceded to Chakotay's judgement. He did know his perspective recruit better than Kathryn, at least who she would become. But how would she react to the plan, and could she really be trusted? Regardless, he felt he owed her that opportunity.

Chakotay stepped forward and the cargo bay doors opened. The inside looked like the interior of a Borg cube. The time was back during their brief alliance with the Borg, nearly three years before during the conflict with Species 8472. He had been opposed to the alliance from the beginning. Now, as before, the place made him apprehensive, perhaps even more so given what happened. What he had been forced to do. Knowing what he knew now, Chakotay wondered if he would have done the same. Might there have been a way to reason with Seven then?

Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix Zero One looked up from the Borg information pillar she was examining. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

"We have a few more gelpacks to inoculate," Chakotay replied, "and then we can carry out our plan to project a chronoton field throughout the ship and bring Voyager back into temporal sync. The gelpacks are in Engineering, however, which is now controlled by a hostile force. I plan to try to negotiate with the group and explain our situation, but in case diplomacy doesn't work, Captain Janeway has formulated a backup plan."

"Who is this hostile force?" Seven of Nine asked, turning to now face him directly.

That was a bit of a sore spot with Chakotay, and he wasn't necessarily wanting to talk about it. He forged ahead anyway. "A former crew member, Seska, who allied herself with a species known as the Kazon and once took control of the ship about five years ago from my perspective and two years ago from yours. A group of them are now in Engineering."

Seven of Nine examined Chakotay closely. "Your pulse rate has increased and you seem more agitated. Who is this Seska to you?" she asked.

"It hardly matters," Chakotay replied defensively. The brow above Seven of Nine's human eye twitched and Chakotay sensed the Borg drone somehow knew everything. What else about his mannerism besides his pulse rate and irritation, he wondered, was she able to assess and had given it away? "A Cardassian spy within my Maquis cell. We were… close. But she betrayed us." He frowned and then added, "She betrayed me."

"Flood the deck with neurozine gas," Seven of Nine suggested, apparently dismissing her previous inquiry and his confession as irrelevant. He liked that about Seven. "Diplomacy would be unnecessary."

"Unfortunately, all systems in the various temporal zones are isolated from one another," Chakotay replied. "Someone will have to go there in person, to not only inoculate the gelpacks, but to recalibrate the warp core to generate the necessary field as well."

Seven of Nine nodded in agreement. The original plan had been hers, after all. "And what is the Captain's backup plan?" she inquired.

"We've inoculated others in the crew from various timeframes," Chakotay said. "They will stand just outside the zone that encompasses Engineering and intervene if necessary."

Seven nodded crisply. "That would be prudent. You have come here to recruit us as well." She stepped up to Chakotay. "You may proceed and we will participate in this plan."

That was easy enough. Chakotay raised the hypospray, but then hesitated.

"Do you distrust us?" Seven of Nine suddenly asked.

Chakotay frowned. Even as a Borg drone, she was perceptive. It occurred to him there was also something he had to say first. Something he had to get out in the open to clear the air, even though he had yet to do it with Seven in his own time frame. A discussion he would have to have with her if they succeeded in their efforts. "In two years, I will trust you," he finally said. He gestured about the cargo bay. "At this time, however, you were about to betray our alliance and attempt to take over Voyager."

"You are correct," Seven of Nine replied matter-of-factly. "When Voyager served its purpose, we would have assimilated you."

"I suppose that might be one reason why I hesitate now," Chakotay said.

Seven of Nine's human eye narrowed. "There is little we can do. I calculate a ninety-nine and forty-four one hundredths percent probability that Voyager would be destroyed if an attempt is made to sync the vessel to any other time frame other than your own. We have no intention of taking over Voyager."

"You did," Chakotay persisted.

"Then why are you including us in this plan?" Seven of Nine asked directly. "There are undoubtedly others you trust throughout the ship whom you could recruit."

"I suppose I know the person you become," Chakotay finally said. "I want to give you the opportunity to assist."

"We will have no memory of these events if we are successful."

"Even so," Chakotay replied with a shrug. "I feel I owe it to you."

Now it was Seven of Nine's turn to hesitate. Again she narrowed her eye. "Explain."

"When you attempt to take over the ship, I was in command and I ordered the cargo bay doors open."

"You would destroy us."

"Yes."

"But we survive."

"Yes. You survive. You regain your individuality. I was skeptical at first, and wondered if we could trust you, but Captain Janeway was determined to give you that opportunity and you proved me wrong. You became… that is to say, you become a valuable member of the crew."

Seven of Nine appeared to consider these things, and then turned her neck again towards Chakotay for the inoculation. "We may have betrayed you in that time frame," she said. "But we have no intention of that now. It makes little sense given the circumstances. And since it is clear Voyager survives, we can help to ensure our continued survival as well."

Chakotay lifted the hypospray to administer the inoculation, but before he could, Seven turned to face him again. There was a curious expression on her face. "Commander. May we ask you one final question?"

"Of course."

"Are we…" she began, but then hesitated as if she was searching for the correct word, "Are you and I… friends in the future?"

"I'd like to think so," Chakotay said, and then he nodded. "Yes. Yes we are."

Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One nodded back. "That is acceptable. You may proceed."

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THE END


End file.
